A woman went missing for days after a casino trip. She was found alive once her car caught fire.
A 74-year-old woman, who went missing last week in Michigan after her car caught fire, was found alive several days later in a wooded area, having survived days of below freezing temperatures and rain.
Nancy Bloomquist, 74, a resident of Norton Shores, was located by a drone shortly after 7:00 p.m. Sunday about 150 yards "from her vehicle in a heavily wooded area, lying next to a downed tree," after being missing for a few days, the Mason County Sheriff's Office said in a post on Facebook.
The sheriff's office said she was "found alive and was talking with deputies at the scene."
Authorities said Bloomquist went missing "under concerning circumstances" last Thursday as she was driving her 2024 GMC Terrain from Little River Casino presumably to Norton Shores, located on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan about 38 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. The Norton Shores Police Department, in a news release, said surveillance footage showed her leaving the casino around 5:30 p.m. and driving southbound on US-31 before she went missing.
Watch: Drone locates missing Michigan woman
The sheriff's office said Bloomquist got lost on her way and "ended up on a long driveway of a seasonal home." As she attempted to find her way back and turned around, her "vehicle became disabled and caught fire."
While Bloomquist was able to get out of the car safely, she forgot her phone in it and when she "attempted to return to the car, she became lost," the sheriff's office said.
"A trail cam captured the vehicle driving in and the victim walking out," the sheriff's office said, adding "video evidence showed she did not return."
Authorities said Bloomquist sought shelter from Thursday night's rain next to a downed tree and became "cold to the point that she could not get back to her feet Friday." She remained there on the ground until she was found on Sunday evening, the sheriff's office said. Between Thursday and Sunday, temperatures in Norton Shores dipped to almost 29 degrees with the area experiencing light snow and rain, according to AccuWeather.
'Just blind luck'
The Mason County Sheriff's Office said it was alerted of the burned vehicle shortly before 2:00 p.m. Sunday after "it was reported the vehicle matched that of a reported missing person out of the Norton Shores Police Department."
Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole told WZZM-TV the call about the burned vehicle came from the owner of the seasonal home who just happened to be visiting Sunday afternoon.
"The person that owned the home, the seasonal home, they happen to come up Sunday afternoon," Cole told the media outlet. "They don't travel up here very often, it sounds like, so it's just blind luck that the homeowner happened to come up and found the car on their property."
Multiple agencies including the Norton Shores Police Department and the Mason County Sheriff’s Office drone unit, launched a search "around the vehicle and surrounding area" with the victim located by a drone shortly after 7:00 p.m.
It is not yet known what caused the vehicle to become disabled and catch fire and the Norton Shores Police Department and Mason County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Paste BN's request for more information.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.